Tag Archives: chambray shirt

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I need a new shirt

Casual Friday

Today you get a “real blogger beauty” photo. What do I mean by that? I mean we took it last night after I’d worked all day (and gone to the gym). You get end-of-day make-up and end-of-day hair. Proof that I really wore this to work, I suppose.

polka-dot-sweater-gray-jeans-2Sweater – The Limited (same) | Shirt – Old Navy (similar) | Jeans – Henry & Belle (same) | Boots – Sam Edelman c/o Shopbop (same) | Bag – Nine West (same)

Jason and I braved the coldest temperatures of the year (not kidding) and met for drinks after work at Bar Takito which is right next to the train stop and around the corner from Chewie’s day care. So these photos are post-drink as well.

polka-dot-sweater-gray-jeans-3Also, I need shopping advice. Yes. Me. I need to know where your favorite chambray shirt is from (if you own one that you love). This one is just a tad too short on me and I don’t love that it’s a bit stiff. And the collar acts funny. So, I need a replacement. I’m intrigued by the one I linked above from Express but I’d love to crowdsource some ideas as well.

polka-dot-sweater-gray-jeans-1I’ll even take you out for a drink.

  
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Puppy Update (and an outfit)

Casual Friday · Office Appropriate Outfits - Summer

If you don’t follow me on Instagram or are friends with me on Facebook you might have missed that my puppy Chewie hurt himself at the dog park two weekends ago. Nothing too serious; he basically scraped up his leg while attempting to jump onto a concrete ledge.

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Jason took him to vet last Thursday for one last check-up and he was given the all clear to lose the bandage. Thank goodness because keeping Chewie from eating it was driving me crazy!

Anyway, they got done at the vet about the time I was getting home so I met them in the courtyard outside our apartment building for some outfit photography. With the iPhone. Because I forgot to bring the camera.

chambray-shirt-white-jeans-2 Shirt – Old Navy (similar) | Jeans – AG Adriano Goldschmeid (similar) | Shoes – Sole Society (same) | Necklace – Clothing swap (similar)

You can see his healing scrape in this photo. Poor baby!

We haven’t been able to take him to the dog park in almost two weeks because he had to keep the injury dry. As you can imagine, a 10 month old puppy who loves the dog park is going a bit stir crazy without his outlet and daily dog-on-dog interaction.

It’s a good thing he’s so cute.

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Ankle Baring

Office Appropriate Outfits - Winter

Navy J. Crew Schoolboy Blazer with chambray shirt and red pants, Chicago style blogger, wear to work

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Blazer – J. Crew (same) | Shirt – Target (similar) | Pants – The Limited (same) | Shoes – MIA via Macy’s (similar) | Necklace – The Limited (same)

Yes, I am still sticking to the #blackoutstyle challenge by wearing a navy (yes, this blazer is navy) instead of a black blazer. I figure that it’s only appropriate to wear today, the day after my birthday, since this navy J. Crew Schoolboy blazer was a joint birthday gift from my father and my husband last year.

I haven’t worn this blazer much recently but today was the perfect day to pair it with my new red ankle pants. I’m always wary of wearing ankle pants in the winter but since it’s supposed to be a bit warmer this week I thought, hey, why not. I didn’t want these pants to have to stay hidden until spring!

Other ways I’ve worn these items

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Linking up with Fizz & Frosting| More Pieces of Me | On the Daily Express

  
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Black Denim Leopard

Casual Friday · Office Appropriate Outfits - Fall

Casual Friday Outfit, Chicago fall, chambray, leopard print, jeans, black blazer

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Blazer – The Limited (similar) | Shirt – Target (similar) | Jeans – The Limited (similar) | Scarf – NYC street vendor (similar) | Shoes – Lucky Brand (similar) | Watch – Groopdealz (similar)

Oh, I know. Let’s not go too crazy and wear a black blazer in a different outfit! But, hey, admittedly, yesterday’s outfit didn’t leave me a lot to work with for the Take One, Pass It On Challenge. I mean, there’s only so many things you can do with black pants, a black blazer, and black heels, right? However, I love the idea of wearing a blazer for a casual outfit. In fact, I do it WAY too often. But, really, a blazer can take a weekend outfit and turn it into a Casual Friday outfit with minimal effort. I know, it’s not ground breaking. But not every outfit or tip can be.

Besides, I decided that in honor of Just Another Smith’s leopard challenge this week I was going to try and wear ALL my leopard print accessories. Scarf? Check. Watch? Check. Shoes? Check. Admittedly I couldn’t figure out how to wear both my leopard flats AND my leopard heels so I went with flats. I mean, it is Friday after all.

And speaking of Friday, here’s the round-up of the outfits for the second week of the Take One, Pass It On Challenge!

Take One, Pass It On Challenge Week 2

P.S. This door I’m standing in front of? It used to be red. I miss my red door.

Casual Friday Outfit, Chicago fall, chambray, leopard print, jeans, black blazerAlso linking up with AJ Wears Clothes

  
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Chambray and Cream

Office Appropriate Outfits - Summer

Polka dot chambray knotted over a pleated, full, polka dot cream skirt

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Shirt – Old Navy (similar) | Skirt – The Limited (similar) | Necklace – J. Crew via Poshmark (similar) | Shoes – Bandolino (same)

Good morning, chambray; Monday says hello. You polka dot above us, and there’s polka dots below.

Okay, I’ll stop now. Kudos if you know what lyrics I’m spoofing.  Anyway, yes, it’s a polka dot chambray sort of day. Why? Because Two Birds gave us this Inspiration Monday photo and while I could have gone with a plain chambray over my lace dress I decided that double polka dots with a chambray shirt and my pleated skirt were better.

 Inspiration Photo Source

Why better? See, today I am meeting Jen from Librarian for Life and Style for the first time! And since she’s one of the reasons I bought this skirt (she has an adorable twirly pleated skirt I love) I thought it appropriate that I wear it for our very first meeting.

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Tucked in or knotted? I couldn’t decide.

There are lots of other fun things going on this week! First, today and tomorrow I’m also doing Sarah’s Real Life Pin to Real Life Pinterest challenge. Why only today and tomorrow? Well, Wednesday I’ll be posting my June shopping summary and then Thursday and Friday I’m out of the office for the Fourth of July holiday.

Never fear, though, if you need a Loop Looks fix later this week I do have some non-outfit posts coming up. Consider it my Fourth of July holiday gift to you.

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P.S. It was really windy on the roof.

  
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The Best Chambray Shirt

Casual Friday · Office Appropriate Outfits - Spring

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Shirt – Target (similar) | Belt – The Limited (similar) | Skirt – BCBG outlet (similar) | Shoes – Mia (similar) | Bracelet – JF&A Show (similar) | Necklace – NY&Co (similar)

Total outfit cost = $123

Today I  have a lunch meeting to meet a new department head so I decided to forgo my usual Friday Casual jeans and instead wear this pleated jersey skirt (with pockets!) with my very first chambray top. Today is the day to showcase your favorite Target score for Whitney and Heidi’s  “We Love Target” link-up.

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I bought this chambray shirt almost two years ago off the clearance rack at Target. I don’t remember how much I paid for it but I do know it was probably my best Target purchase in awhile (other than my red trench coat that also came off the clearance rack).  Unfortunately the Target closest to my apartment – the one I can walk to – doesn’t have the best clothing section, clearance or otherwise, so I haven’t gotten any good deals recently.

This skirt, though, I bought in 2009 at an outlet mall in Napa, California for a song. It’s super comfy and has held up amazingly well for jersey material. It has a slightly casual feel to it but it’s also easy to dress up, as evidenced by the time I wore it to work with heels.

However, to keep with the Target love theme, the shirt, skirt, and shoes listed in the links above are all from Target! Because, really, who couldn’t use a black skirt, a chambray top, and a pair of red ballet flats?

 

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Also linking up with AJ Wears Clothes

  
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Working Outside the Box

Office Appropriate Outfits - Spring

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Blazer – Macy’s (similar) | Shirt – Old Navy (similar) | Pants – Gap (similar) | Heels – Macy’s (similar)

Total outfit cost = $98

Today is the Third Thursday link-up at Work Clothes, I Suppose and I had grand plans of recreating an outfit that Bri herself had inspired me to wear. However, I totally failed and recreated the wrong red pants outfit! Instead, I put together an outfit similar to one I saw last fall on Lily Says Go.  Either way, it’s red pants and a camel blazer with leopard shoes. I just wore chambray instead of my gold polka dot top. And now I have that outfit to look forward to!

Anyway, today’s Third Thursday theme is “Work Wear”. Considering I wear what I think of as “work wear” every day, this isn’t a stretch. But I think the fact that I paired two pieces that could be considered slightly casual (cropped pants, chambray-ish shirt) but added heels and a blazer that my outfit is work appropriate without being traditional.

I mean, I own several suits (and have even worn them on the blog on occasion) but I think that’s an easy cop-out! One of my goals for this blog is to help women dress for work without feeling constrained by traditional work outfits! So, wear those red pants, add those leopard heels, wear something other than black! You can do it, I promise.

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Also linking up with Mix & Match Fashion.

  
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The Hilarity of the Half Acre Brewery Tour (Guide)

Office Appropriate Outfits - Spring

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Taking a quick break from this week’s 5 Days, 5 Ways challenge to share this story with you.

Last month a bunch of my Chicago Running Blogger friends and I  met up for a quick run before drinking ourselves silly at the Half Acre Brewery tour. I didn’t do a write-up on my running blog but if you’re curious, there are quite a few write-ups from my friends who didn’t fall asleep on the couch when they got home after all that beer.

The highlight (and the reason I’m writing this post) of the tour was drinking three pints of beer in about an hour after very little food.  We got a little giddy and the group decided that we loved our tour guide’s hipster outfit pictured above and wanted to recreate it.  “Host a link-up, Erin!” They said.  So here we are.

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Chambray shirt – Old Navy (similar)| Lace shirt – The Limited (similar) | Pants – The Limited (similar) | Shoes – Anne Klein | Belt – The Limited (similar)| Necklaces – gift & post-race swag

Of course, I went with an office-appropriate version so it’s more preppy than hipster. But what about my blogger buddies?  Check out their interpretations below.

  
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Busy from Top to Bottom

Office Appropriate Outfits - Winter

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Shirt – Target (similar) | Tank – The Limited (similar) | Skirt – The Limited (similar) | Shoes – Karen Scott via Macy’s (similar) | Necklace – JC Penney (similar)

For everyone who guessed the necklace in yesterday’s post as my Take One and Pass It On item, you win!  Not sure what you win.  Bragging rights, maybe?  Anyway, yes, I chose to wear the necklace again.  It’s such a statement piece so I wanted to show how it could be toned down a bit.

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However, the rest of my outfit just isn’t working for me.  I think I just prefer to wear black shoes when I wear black tights.  The shoes are just jarring to my eyes.  I think there’s just a big too much going on in this outfit for me.  Thoughts?

Also, what do you think I’ll be wearing from today’s outfit tomorrow?

  
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Plaid Meets Polka Dots

Office Appropriate Outfits - Winter

 

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Blazer – ?? (similar) | Shirt – Old Navy (similar) | Belt – The Limited (similar) | Pants – The Limited (similar) | Shoes – Ann Klein (similar)

 

Pairing the polka dot chambray shirt with these plaid pants has been an outfit on my mind for a few months.  I loved the idea of mixing the two patterns but breaking it up by wearing the tan blazer over the top.  A great way to do pattern mixing is to do two subtle prints but add in some solids so you don’t look too crazy.

I even mentioned wanting to wear this outfit the last time I paired these plaid pants with a plain chambray shirt.  Yes, I own two chambray shirts.  No, I don’t think that’s too many.   Chambray is just so versatile.  Wear it with black jeans and boots and a scarf and you have a casual weekend outfit.  Pair it with dress pants and a blazer and you’re ready to attend a monthly meeting of your professional organization (at least, that’s what I’m doing today.  Your mileage may vary).

 

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